Our experience visiting Disney World with toddlers

I have read some discussions about whether it is worth visiting Disney world with toddlers/young kids and I thought I would share my opinion and recent experience.

I had always been surprised by discussions on this topic, as I thought it was a no brainer. Of course it would be worth it. If you could afford it, why wouldn’t you go? I have been to LA’s Disneyland and Tokyo’s Disneyland and both were awesome. I agreed that they were the happiest places on earth, and I looked forward to taking my own kids. Unfortunately, when I finally had the opportunity to do this, it didn’t live up to what I imagined. At all.

At the time we went, my son, Z, was 20 months old and my daughter was 3.5 years old to the day. We actually decided to leave Z at home with J. Under twos are free, but he still needs to nap and I was worried he would get so grumpy that he would ruin the day for all of us. The entry price is so high, that I couldn’t justify a half day visit. This was a wise decision. Not so much because of the sleep, but because I don’t see how he would have enjoyed it. He would have hated being strapped to us all day in the carrier, he wants to walk. This would not have been possible, because it was just so crowded, we would have lost him in an instant. It would definitely not be worth visiting Disney World with this toddler.

Disney World is very pricey, so we decided to just go to Magic Kingdom. All my experiences below are related to our visit there.

Entrance as we were driving in

The main problem?

The crowds. It was crazy. People everywhere. 50+ minute waits for all attractions. You couldn’t even sit down in a chair to eat something. It was quite honestly a nightmare.

I didn’t even go on a day that is considered busy. I chose a Monday on purpose as they are supposed to be one of the lightest days. If that is a lighter day, I’d hate to see a super busy one. I was shocked. I visited Disneyland LA on new years eve and it was nothing compared to this.

People were not considerate either which made it harder. We actually got a great spot at one of the parades and quite enjoyed it. Until they called everyone up to dance with them. S was one of the first up as happy as can be, and then she was shoved out of the way by all the adults wanting to stand around the dancers to take pictures. They weren’t standing there to dance and it made me quite mad.

Eating lunch was not much fun either. We couldn’t find any chairs to sit on. People were just everywhere.

Lunch on a budget – still $20 and not very nice at all

What about FastPass?

Honestly, I found this to be a joke and it was no doubt partly responsible for the long wait times since we were waiting in line while others were able to walk past us to the front.

FastPass is a system whereby you can get a ticket with a time frame for that particular attraction where you can return later and skip the majority of the line, so instead of waiting 50 minutes, you may only wait five. It sounds great in theory but I only managed to use it once.

The problem? Finding the damn FastPass booths. They rarely seemed to be located at the ride, and I never seemed able to find them. Or I would find them and they were already only offering a time seven hours in the future. You also can’t pick your time, so you could get a time and be on the other side of the park and have trouble getting back, especially if you are in one of the one hour lines for another attraction. It does not work well for families with toddlers who are not familiar with the park.

The good parts?

It is hard to beat the magic of Disney. Just like the Disneylands I have visited, Magic Kingdom is just magical. It’s so perfectly presented, maintained and looked after. The staff seem so happy and when I wasn’t grumbling and annoyed by the people, I would catch myself just smiling. It is a special place.

When we were actually on the attractions or watching the parade, it was fantastic. I was also very impressed by the waiting area at the Dumbo ride. You are actually given a pager while the kids play in an indoor play area waiting for your turn. However, even this was only limited in how good it was. Only about ten minutes of our waiting time for this ride was spent here, the rest in lines.

Waiting area in Dumbo ride

Tips?

Get a FastPass map if this is possible. Something that shows you the location of all the FastPass booths in the park and try to get around them early. This will obviously still have issues if you are going to Disney World with a toddler, as it is hard to dash around the park and then if you end up with times close together at attractions far apart you will have issues. It would be worth a try though.

The stroller was useful. You weren’t allowed to take it on attractions or even in lines for attractions though, so your kids need to be able to stand for long periods of time or you need to be happy holding them. I would definitely take a carrier for a younger kid. There are lots of stroller parking areas which were supervised. Make sure you put something on your pram so you know it’s yours! You can also hire prams there, but it was cheaper for us to buy a cheap one beforehand.

Just a small part of one of the many stroller parking areas

Try hard to go at the least busiest time possible. If going was important to me, I would just suck up the big expense and stay in one of the Disney World resorts and plan to go only for a half day at a time. I think it would be less frustrating that way (but a lot more expensive).

S’s verdict?

S loved the rides – once she was actually on them. She would basically have to be dragged into lines and onto the attractions. She also loved the parade until people pushed her out of the way, so she couldn’t dance.

The parade was exciting

She was so excited on arrival and when she first arrived at Sleeping Beauty’s castle. I will not forget how excited and happy she looked for a long while. She loved meeting the Chipmunks and giving them a big hug. She would have loved to meet other characters too, but the lines were just too long.

She wanted to go home very early on. She hated the crowds and basically spent the entire time we were there whinging. She has had more fun at playgrounds, and I think she enjoyed Old Town USA better.

Would I go again?

At the moment, I never want to go again ever. This will no doubt pass, and we will probably try to go again when the kids are a fair bit older. I would want them old enough to understand and accept all the waiting. I would only go on a day considered the least busiest day of the year as well!!

For me, it was not the happiest place on earth this visit, more like parent hell. It was basically moving from one line to another while S whinged and drove me crazy. I don’t think I was the only one. Whenever I saw a parent with young kids, at least one of their kids would be screaming while they pushed them around in a pram looking annoyed. Fun times. Not.

I feel ripped off that I paid so much money to stand in lines. we only lasted five hours, and we would have come back even earlier if J had been able to pick us up earlier. We spent the last hour sitting waiting. It was not worth it for us at all.

I do think there is something special about Disney parks though, and if you are only ever going to get the one chance to go and it happens to be with a toddler, then I would go. I would suck up the painful parts for that experience. I had been before though, and I am sure we will get the chance again in future, so I wish I had just waited.

Enjoying the view from the Dumbo ride

Practical Information The tickets were expensive. It cost US$196 for the two of us. S was on a kids ticket but this is only $10 cheaper than an adult. J dropped us off at the guest drop off point for Magic Kingdom, but this was still a monorail ride away from Magic Kingdom. Disney World is incredibly huge!!

27 Comments

If you were there this past Monday (11/25) I would concur. Magic Kingdom was way too crowded to enjoy. Hubby and I have been to WDW more than 50 times in the past 25 years and I had never seen it as crowded as it was that day. Luckily for us it was the last day of a week long trip and we decided to just take in some of the less popular attractions (Riverboat, Country Bear Jamboree, Carousel of Progress) which offered respite from the crowd. Give it another try. The previous week in every park we walked on to almost every ride multiple times. Almost didn’t need our fastpass+ reservations. If you can I would aim for earlier in November or mid-May. We have found both of those times to be less busy. As for going with small children, I heartily concur. This was our 5th trip with our kids and they are 16, 13 & 11 but the first time we went they were 8, 4 & 2. It was a LOT of work. Every trip gets better though and this time they were able to be in the MK “alone together” while my husband and I went out to dinner at one of the resorts. Never thought I’d live long enough to experience that!

Yes that was the day!! How amazing that you were there too and came across my blog post. I am so happy to hear that it was an extra bad day. When I looked up the timing before going, I read that it should be find until Thanksgiving weekend. Only googling again now am I coming across things saying that all of Thanksgiving week is a “moderate” amount of crowds. I would really hate to see a very busy day! If you can go five times with kids, I guess I can do a second 😉 Thanks for your comment!!

I’m originally from Orlando and have been to Disney a billion times and it’s very hard to find a good time to go to the magic kingdom. It’s just always the more crowded of the parks. You really have to get there early, walk straight to the back and work your way up. It’s hard.

I feel, probably due to me having lived there for so long, that the magic kingdom park should be the first Disney park kids should go to. We took our son to the one in Paris and it was also busy when we were there. However, when we went to Orlando earlier this year, we opted for animal kingdom. We didn’t go on a lot of rides, didn’t stay all day, but it was nice because it wasn’t ridiculously crowded.

I am glad to read this blog. I took my 8 year old last Halloween. The girl told him a ride was not scary that was super scary. He screamed the whole time. Shook and cried for over n hour and I had to get Disney office to help me. We had a 3 day pass. He wouldn’t go on any rides after. He is still scare dog the dark and has had trauma ever since. Disneyland is the worst thing I ever did. I don’t get a solid nights sleep as he wakes up with fears. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t have a great time. I think there are many other places worth the money, but maybe not here!

We went to Dreamworld a few months ago with our three year old and it was a complete waste of time. The queues were really long, the rides for toddlers really lame – way too short for the amount of time involved to queue. The only part we really enjoyed was the petting zoo. I think simple is better with these little ones. We were happier sitting down and eating an ice cream than we were on the rides.

I was actually talking to J yesterday about how the kids are just as happy walking around pretending there are muddy puddles everywhere and “splashing” than they are at any attraction. I think that is one of the huge pluses of travelling with very young kids. It is hard to not want to take them to kid attractions though!

That’s too bad that the crowd was horrible. I hope you give it another chance in the future, albeit on a quieter day. We’re in the midst of planning our multi-day WDW trip right now. My husband Is an engineer, and yesterday he actually made a line graph of wait times at popular rides as the day progresses. Between visits with our 3 kids and with our 2 nephews when we were still a childless couple, I’ve been to Disney parks a gazillion times with all ages. When my girl was 4 yrs old and on her 3rd Disney visit, she suddenly decided she was afraid of anything indoors. Winnie the Pooh was too scary! We ended up riding the carousel over and over because it was one of the few outdoor rides. She dropped her strawberry on the floor which her brother then stepped on during our highly anticipated Character Meal and was crying so hard for the rest of lunch that she didn’t pay any attention to the Princesses coming by our table. At Tokyo Disney Sea, typhoon-like weather hit mid-day and practically shut down the park, but we hunkered down and did what little was still open. Yet, we keep going because in the end, the kids remember the good parts, and we just laugh about the bad.

lol at the graph of waiting times!! I am jealous of your positive attitude, I think I need to take it on! I had to shudder at the strawberry incident though – so easy to see some variation of that happening with our kids!

I am sorry you had such a rotten time. Unfortunately, you went on the first day of a full week holiday for most US students, so the park would be extra busy. I would never, never go to Disney during Thanksgiving week, but you wouldn’t even have that holiday on your radar, as an Aussie. Hopefully, you will have another chance someday, and you can message me and I’ll tell you the best times to go 😉

By the way, Hong Kong Disneyland has really light crowds if you’re in the mood for another attempt. We went the Sunday before Christmas a couple years ago. There was NOBODY in Fantasyland. Seriously. We were the only people in the entire It’s a Small World ride. All the boats in front and behind us were empty. Don’t go in the summer, though, when it’s extremely humid.

That’s a shame, we ‘ve taken the kids to Florida Disney twice ( at 2 and a bump and 4 and 6) and had ball both times. We used fastpass and had no problems using it or locating the machines. We always get there early, before opening time, they do start letting you in and often go home for a rest in the afternoon before coming back for the evening parade. It worked out great for us. We had 5 day passes, I think, both times, so no pressure to rush around seeing everything in 1 day. We can’t wait to go again in 2014. I will say it’s lots more fun once your kids are tall enough to go on all the rides but even with a 2 yr old and me pregnant it was wonderful, magic!

[…] we read a post from our friend and fellow Aussie traveller Sharon about suffering in the Disney queues we felt her pain but we were a bit surprised because it’s never happened to us. Our Disney […]

I always went at the beginning of Sept when all the kids had to go back to school so it was incredibly empty. The longest we had to wait in line for a ride was 15 minutes but I can’t imagine how it must be going with little ones during busy season. It would be insane! Glad she had a good time though !

I think for kids this is a unique experience, so even if it is really painful waiting in the long queues, you’ll do it for them, especially if you don’t know when you will have the chance to get back there. When I was a kid I always wanted so much to go there, but of course it was just too far, I went to Eurodisney in Paris, this was the closest I got to visiting Disney world:)

I hate that you had such a miserable time. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is about the busiest worst time of the year to go. Crowds are horrendous due to school breaks and disney’s Chrismas celebration. A great trip takes some preplanning and research. If you go in blindly the first time it will be miserable. I had lots of advice for our first trip and researched every blog and website I could find for months. I familiarized myself wth the parks layout and planned accordingly. And we hit all 4 parks in 4 days on our first trip It can be overwhelming and I agree that it’s not always best for young children. My daughter was 6 when we took her the first time and it was the perfect age. Going back next month and she’s 9 now. Hope you can try again in a few more years!

I worked for Walt Disney World for many years, and I still live near by and visit often. So obviously, I have a special place in my heart for WDW. I’ve still often gone on busier days and wondered how regular guest that paid to get in aren’t just miserable. The beauty of living here is that if it’s crowded I just go home and try again, but I can really see how it could ruin your vacation. It really can be a magical place though. I hope you give it another chance in the future. I always tell my family to either visit late January- early Feb. or Sept.- early Oct. to avoid the crowds (as much as possible).

I stumbled upon your blog post as I was searching Pinterest. I’m sorry your experience was so rotten. 🙁 We took our then almost 3 year old to Disney World last year and it was an awesome experience. We talk about it often and I’m really looking forward to going back. That said, I could have had a terrible time if I had not done some major planning in advance. According to most Disney Planning websites, Monday is the busiest day for the Magic Kingdom. It’s horrible that other guests pushed your daughter at the parade…that’s just sad and uncalled for. The parades were my daughters most favorite part of the day, and my least favorite. Nowhere to sit, surrounded by people… But she loved it. It looks from the pictures like you went between thanksgiving and Christmas? Or some other chilly time? If there is a Next time, maybe check out the planning websites like Undercover Tourist to find out the “speculated busy days” before going? Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

I’m glad that you had a much more positive experience. We went the Monday before Thanksgiving. I checked sites beforehand that said that should not be a busy day. Afterwards I cam across other sites that put it in the moderate range – if that is moderate, I never want to try busy!!

We live 2 hours from Magic Kingdom. There aren’t too many places in this world I loathe more. The crowds are usually horrendous, park goers are generally the rudest people on earth, the food is overpriced, disgusting garbage, & everything is so forced to be “the happiest place on earth.” Blech. I think we do our kids a major disservice teaching them this. I don’t blame you one bit if you never return. Hollywood Studios is probably the best of all the parks but you still deal with all the same issues.

Even with the Florida Resident discount rate, it is still an over-priced manufactured experience. I would much rather spend our hard-earned dollars at natural happier places on earth.